I See You Through Your Eyes
by M.Nakamura
Summary: There is something wrong with Sanji's left eye. And somehow, it starts to behave differently for some reason... Eventual ZoroxSanji or SanjixZoro, who knows what I'm in the mood for
1. Prologue

**A/N: This was inspired by the book "Baltasar and Blimunda" by José Saramago. Well, if you read the book, you'll understand. If you don't I suggest you read it. I haven't wrote fanfic in a while so bear with me and my lack of inspiration/ideas/perfeccionism in writing/etc. This is mainly a cliché romance and the characters might get a bit OOC. It's kind of necessary for the plot, since I'm sure Sanji does not suffer from the eye thing I gave him... It will lead to yaoi, lemon if I'm brave. So yeah, have fun reading, if you want to ^^'**

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**Prologue**

"Goodnight Sanji…"

"Night, okasan… Ne, okasan, why do I have to keep this in my sleep?" The four year old Sanji had grown curious over his mother demand. She never really imposed anything to him, other than he should never remove the band-aid from his left eye.

"Sanji… I'm afraid you'll forget to put it again in the morning. And I don't want you to go through the same path of life as me. You understand this son?" She looked at him fondly, though he could tell she was also ashamed and afraid.

"Not really, no okasan."

"It's okay son. Just remember what I'm going to say to you ok? You can never take that band-aid from your eye in the presence of other people. It can hurt them. Maybe you will understand that someday. I hope that if you do, you won't use it for bad things. And when you come to love someone, please be careful. Ok? Will you remember this Sanji? Will your treasure my words?"

"Ah-yeah, okasan. Why are you telling me that? What do I have on my eye?"

"You'll understand one day Sanji…"

"Hmmmm… Ne, okasan, where is tousan?" She flinched in pain and fought the tears that were threatening to come and smiled at his son.

"I made a mistake and he… left. I'm going after him now Sanji. Never forget what I said, and never forget that I love you my son. Sleep well."

"Hai, okasan. Goodnight. I love you too!" – With this, the four year old boy drifted to sleep only to wake up seven hours later to learn that his father and his mother were found dead with evident marks of natural death and suicide, respectively, and he was now an orphan.

Left alone in the world, Sanji ran till he reached the port of his island and hid himself on a pirate ship ready to disembark.


	2. Chapter I

**A/N: So, here's the first chapter of this story. I'm sorry if these first chapters are confusing and you're not feeling very enlighted with them regarding the main plot BUT I promise I'll explain EVERYTHING as it develops. The thing is: I like to keep people guessing along with the characters of the story :) Well, hope you like it - at least a bit :p And keep forgiving me for the lack of expertise in writing/english grammar.**

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**Chapter I**

During the quiet times of their journey, the demon Roronoa Zoro would find himself doing the same things, day after day. He would wake up, do some pushups, eat breakfast, train with heavy weights, eat lunch and clean his katana after, if they needed to be. This day was no different: He woke up early, worked up till ten thousands of pushups, ate breakfast, trained with his heavy weights, ate lunch and went to clean his katana afterwards.

He often takes more than an hour to clean _Wadou Ichimonji_. That sword makes him think about stuff. He thinks about Kuina, and the reason why he left his village to travel the world. He thinks about his life as a pirate-hunter, before meeting Luffy. He thinks about his adventures, his journeys with the Mugiwaras, and he smiles. He honestly smiles. It's the closest thing he got to an innocent happy smile. His nakama often see him like that but they don't know why he's so naturally happy.

Only Zoro knows where his thoughts travel to, while he's caressing that sword of his, silently speaking to it, as if he's telling his adventures and his life to someone else.

"Hello, swordsman-san." – Robin approaches him. He looks at her as he quickly hides his relaxed pose.

"Hi Robin. What gives?" – She glares at him and sits next to the swordsman silently for a while. Zoro keeps looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Not much, really." – She glared at him, wondering if he would ever tell anyone what was the mystery with that sword. - "I see you cleaning your sword but I wonder if you're not cleaning your thoughts, as well…"

"I see. Of course you'd be the one to ask, heh?" – She waited as he started to get back to his usual self, always ironic, always demonic. - "I'm just cleaning her, that's it."

"Oh. I see then." – Robin left, wondering why he would treat a sword as a person, and he kept working on his _Wadou_.

…

"Nami-swaaaaaaaaan~! Here's your cup of tea~!" – Sanji had prepared the usual drinks for the ladies and left his kitchen with that heart-shaped eye of his as he went looking for them.

"Arigato, Sanji-kun" – Nami answered, completely ignoring all that flail. He left Nami with her mapping work and went looking for Robin to give her her drinks. He found her as she left Zoro's side, and he felt intrigued.

"Robin-chaaaan~! Here's your drink~!" – He handed her the cup of tea and kept himself at her side, chewing on his cigarette and Robin, as attentive as she would always be, noticed.

"Thanks, Cook-san! Mind if I ask you what's troubling you?" – He shuddered a bit as he shyly looked at her and asked:

"Robin-chan, can I ask you what were you doing next to that barbarian moss-head?" – He revised – "I'm sorry for the bad speaking."

"Oh, swordsman-san? I was trying to understand that relaxed smile on his face. He said it was because he was thinking about you." – Sanji choked as he heard those words leaving Robin's mouth and she just smiled at him. '_Why would that shitty marimo think about me? AND SMILE? Argh, my stupid eye is burning, what the hell…'_ He thought. She could've just tricked him… Yeah, that was probably it. Robin-chan was joking with him! There was definitely no other chance.

…

It was dinner time already and that moss-head wasn't even near. Everyone sat at the table except Zoro. Sanji was starting to get pissed. As long as he was that ship's cook, no one would skip a meal: even if it was that dumb single brain-celled person.

"Usopp, where's that marimo?" – He asked, hopefully he would tell him the other was coming and he didn't have to bother to go looking for him.

"How should I know? Probably at his training room?" – Che. Who gave that stupid green-haired animal the right to skip one of Sanji's meals? Zoro was definitely crossing marks now.

"I'll be right back then. NO ONE EATS UNTIL I ARRIVE. DON'T even dare Luffy, I'll kick your ass into the deep ocean until you drop dead from drowning!" – He kicked Luffy's head as the other tried to steal the food.

"Nhaaaa!~ But I want to eaaaaaaat~!"

"I SAID NO." – Then he left. Where would that stupid moss-head be anyway? He headed first to Zoro's training room but as he got there, he realized the room was empty. What the hell? Where would he be? He wandered around the ship but no sign of Zoro.

…

"_Marimo! Oi, baka! Where the fuck are you? Dinner time, moss-head!"_ Zoro thought he was imagining things. Not that he'd been sleeping, rather meditating as far as possible from that loud crew he was member of. He couldn't think of another place where he could just relax and enjoy the sound of the waves as they crashed against their ship…

"MARIMOOOOO! GET YOUR GREEN ASS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" – Grrr, that shitty-cook just had to interrupt his moment. Zoro got out from the Soldier Dock System to face a very angry look from Sanji.

"What now, ero-cook? You interrupted my meditation." – Sanji couldn't be any angrier at that stupid moss-head.

"Shut up and get your ass in the kitchen, shitty swordsman!" – Sanji lifted his leg and aimed for a kick that Zoro stopped with _Kitetsu _and_ Shuusui_. They growled and yelled insults at each other until they got tired. – "The crew is waiting. Even if it's you, there's no way you're gonna skip a meal, as long as I'm the cook here. So get your ass in the kitchen before I kill you."

"Che, whatever cook." – They both headed to the kitchen so that the whole crew could finally eat.

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Everyone would be asleep by now. The only person awake would be Zoro, for he'd be the one assigned to stay on watch that night, except he wasn't. Somewhere in the galley, Sanji was standing beside the kitchen table, smoking his thousandth cigarette for the night. It's not that he was bothered with anything, but his watch was next to Zoro so he decided not to sleep until then. He wasn't that tired anyway.

As he smoked the last cancer stick (he had promised himself he wouldn't smoke until the next day, because he had to let his smokes last until the next island, or he'd be in a really deep depressive mood really soon), he thought about his nakama. This time, his thought drifted to Robin, as he recalled their last chit-chat: _He said it was because he was thinking about you_.

"Che. Why do I even care?" – Truth is, Robin was actually messing with him. - Little did she know, anyway… - Well, it amused her, sometimes, mess with people's thoughts but Sanji didn't know that and so it left him thinking about what that stupid sentence could only mean. Until he decided he didn't care anymore. She definitely had to be messing with his mind, so he set to forget about the matter.

"Oi, cook." – Zoro's voice startled him. – "Where's the sake?"

"Kuso-marimo, there's no way I'm going to tell you. You will just swallow the bottle if you have to. The good sake is not to waste on that bottomless barrel you have instead of a stomach." – Sanji finished his smoke and prepared to leave to the crow's nest to his night watch but not before he stretched his leg fast enough to kick the swordsman in the head, as the other sleepily tried to block it unsuccessfully with his sword.

"Shit-cook…" – Zoro mumbled as Sanji shut the door and left to his night watch.

…

Zoro walked to his bedroom right after his watch was over. Or else, that's what it would seem. As soon as Sanji left his *precious* kitchen, Zoro found a way to sneak up and went looking for the sake. Oh, booze! That man could be easily pleased: All it took was a good fight, time to sleep and booze.

He searched for it everywhere, but he couldn't find it! '_Che, where's the sake, aho-cook?'_ Well, there's nothing he could do about it. He'd make that annoying cook spill where he'd hidden the drinks in the next morning. Or maybe… he could just walk over the crow's nest and beat the shit out of that bastard until he begged for him to stop. Oh, that's that! Zoro draw a cocky smirk in his face as he turned around and walked towards Sanji's direction.


	3. Chapter II

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of this story. Hope you'll like it. I know how much the first chapters can seem confusing but that's just as it is. Unfortunately for you, I like to keep people guessing instead of satisfying their curiosity. Don't worry though! Later, I'll unravel things :p I'll hope you'll stick with me until that moment. I'm sorry if I take too long posting chapters but I'm trying to delay the postage, because I don't want you to be like two or three months without things to read due to my ever-present writer's block. I'm sorry as well if the characters are OOC. I'm trying not to make them so, but it's bound to happen. **

**I wanna thank you for the reviews and tell you how much I appreciate them. While I'm not a fan of bashing and making fun of people's work, I like to know if the story is good or not. Because I'm at it, I'm also thanking all of you that fav-ed/put a story-alert on this one. Ok off you go now.**

**[EDIT - ****P.S: I'm sorry I had to make a change. Only now I realised I had the space-line (?) totally wrong. Anyway. It's corrected. Now Sanji isn't falling asleep someplace and waking up in another, LMAO. Sorry once again.]**

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**Chapter II**

"_Fuck you moss-head, fuck you shitty-eye, fuck you... NO! No dumbface, do not think that about Robin-chan! Argh…"_ - Zoro was about to knock at the door when he overheard Sanji cursing and sputtering non-sense. He then chose to just kick the door to the ground and startle the other man with it.

"What the hell, marimo?" – Zoro had this stupid grin on his face that was pissing Sanji off. The cook probably had already realized that Zoro heard him cursing, being that the reason why he was so startled by the other man's entrance.

"Thinking of me, aho-cook?" – He kept smirking, mocking Sanji, though he was slightly confused with what he heard. Was that curlicue finally going mad?

"Shut your face up, moss-for-brains! My ass will be rotten before I even think about giving a shit about you."

"Maybe it is rotten already, dartboard-brow!" – And suddenly, Zoro felt a kick flying to his chest, making him quickly draw his swords to counterattack Sanji's attacks.

He lifted _Shuusui_ to the cook's neck, only to have the other man shoving it off with one of his kicks as he lifted his other leg to Zoro's stomach. Zoro didn't stumble and got close to the blonde man, threatening him with his two swords. They both stopped close to each other, mumbling insults after insults. They were both pretty hot blooded and they both noticed they were too close, but neither of them parted. Zoro started to feel the heat between them and for a fraction of a second wondered if the other man felt the same. Then, as if reality hit them hard, they suddenly fell to their own places, leaving more than enough space between each other.

"Why did you come here anyway, baka marimo? Did you come to pay me a visit, was that it? Oh, that's sweet of you, moss-for-brains!" - Sanji sarcastically smirked at Zoro.

"I want to drink. Where have you put the sake?"

"Are you deaf? I told you before, you ain't getting the sake, I need it for cooking. Go drink a beer or something." – With this, Zoro just snorted in disgust and left the Crow's Nest.

"Damn stupid fucking shitty swordsman, always getting on my nerves!" – He muttered tons of insults until then he grew tired, so he let himself fall asleep on the ground. He knew that if some enemy came up, he'd get up easily since he never slept that much anyway…

…

_"Oi, Ma~ri~mo… Would you come here?" – Sanji was drunk, he thought. He was crazy if he wanted to hang himself up on Zoro, if he wanted to touch him, to be touched by him - so badly… So yeah, he sure had to be drunk._

_ Zoro arched an eyebrow but started walking towards the cook - "What do you want, shit-cook?" – As he got near Sanji, the other man told him to get closer; for he wanted to tell Zoro a little secret…_

_ "Come closer, Zoro…~" – As the swordsman did, Sanji whispered in his ear 'I wanna kiss you, sword-boy' and as he whispered, he took action and promptly kissed the other man with quite the passion and lust, and for his own surprise Zoro never turned him off, kissing him back with the same will, making him start to feel aroused…_

"Mfhh…" – Sanji woke up to the sound of his own voice and jumped out if daze at speed of light - "FUCK, WHAT THE HELL?" – The cook stared at his surroundings wide-eyed and hoped no one woke up, only to remember he wasn't in the boy's room - "Shit…" – '_Why the fuck am I dreaming about Zoro? Damn, I need to get laid if my dreams have come to this... Fuck, shitty eye burning again… Ugh!'_

At least, seeing he didn't risk waking his crewmates, the cook allowed himself to relax a bit but that soon faded as he took note of his own state: He was sweating, feeling his boxers suddenly tighter than usual. '_Oh shit'._ He looked down at the hard bulge stuck in his trousers. _Shit, shit, shit._ Now he was dreaming with Zoro, his eye was burning like hell and he was getting hard because of the stupid dream. Shit. What time would it be, anyway? Sanji looked at the window and decided it was morning enough to stand up and cook breakfast. '_Oh wait'._ He was still hard. He was definitely going for a cold shower first.

…

"'Morning shit-cook." – Zoro was now awake for his morning exercise. – "Are you done with the breakfast thing?"

"Wait for the crew, lazy seaweed." – Sanji made all the efforts not to look at Zoro. Who knew how his body could react and he could always avoid any kind of embarrassment or pain.

"Fine, whatever." – Zoro left the kitchen mumbling stuff about stupid cooks, who were stupidly stupid - which left Sanji very much annoyed - and went to the deck. He sat with his back on the mast; left leg stretched, right leg crouched against his chest and leant back, relaxing as he looked to the sky. _Ah_, they were nearing a summer island, for sure. The sky was really bright and there were no clouds in sight. Then he let himself fall asleep again to the sea breeze.

'_I'm glad he's gone. Shit, stupid eye. Why are you awake all of a sudden? I hate this. Well at least you're not burning anymore. Maybe I should check it out…_ '

Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Luffy jumped straight into Sanji's arms – "SAAAANJIIIIIIII, MESHIIIII." – So much for checking it out…

"Kuso gomu-ningen, get the hell off me!" – He kicked his captain in the butt, who then flew towards their navigator.

"AH, LUFFY!" – Nami was caught off guard when a rubber ball fell in her lap, as Robin grew arms around her captain to put him on the ground. – "Sanji-kun… WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Gomennn, Nami-swaaaaan~! I didn't mean to upset such a beautiful lady as yourself~!" - The cook said with hearts in his eyes and noodle-dancing around her.

"Hai, hai Sanji-kun." - She dismissively waved at him and sat on her chair, as Usopp, Robin, Chopper, Franky and Brook said their good mornings and followed after to eat breakfast.

Everyone was already at the table, when Zoro burst through the kitchen door and went for his seat as well. Sanji wrinkled his nose at the lack of manners but chose to ignore as he went to pick up the plates for his ladies, _made with so much love~_! As he served them, he proceeded to put the food at the table so that his ill-mannered crewmates railed the table as always.

Luffy would always get his kick in the head for eating too much; Usopp would always flinch in fear as Sanji barked at him for being too loud, Franky would say _SUPAAAAH!_ way more than necessary, Brook would _Yo-ho-ho!_ at his own dumb skull-jokes, Zoro would snicker at Sanji, who'd respond with a kick and a fight would break, as Chopper would tell them to stop or they would get injured, Nami would punch them both in the head, the captain would still be railing through everyone's plates and Robin would just smile at the whole scene.

After the breakfast episode, everyone started to get up and leave for their activities, except Zoro, who stood there at the table, looking at the cook like he was burning holes in his forehead.

"There's something wrong with you shit-cook." …'_WHAT'._ The cook made all the efforts not to stop and stare at Zoro or even tremble at his remark as he kept cleaning the table.

"What the hell, marimo." Zoro kept staring at him as Sanji started to turn the other way around, towards the sink to avoid any staring contest.

"Yeah, there's something wrong with you. I don't know what that is, but there's definitely something wrong with you." - And with that, the swordsman left the kitchen. Sanji felt his thoughts zoom too fast with this. '_Zoro noticed? Shit fuck. Maybe he didn't notice. Yeah. Maybe he'll ignore it if he did notice. But he… Which means… Fuck, my eye again… Fuck. I hate this.'_

The cook then walked towards the bathroom. Once he got there he closed the door, wouldn't be wise to risk any of his crewmates enter there and see that. Too bad he forgot to lock it with the rush to see his eye that was burning so anxiously. He lifted his hair and took the band-aid off to reveal his hidden eye.

"Shit… This looks awful. Looks… awake." – Sanji opened his personal drawer and took the salve he had ready for these emergencies. – "Why are you awake, eh, cursed shit? Does it mean that…? I don't know… So why the sudden awakening?" – He soaked some cotton ball on the salve and massaged his eye, to ease the burning issue. "Fuck, this hurts."

Suddenly the bathroom door was opened – "Oi, shit cook."

"MARIMO!" – The cook panicked when he saw Zoro entering the bathroom and in a second turned to face the wall instead of his crewmate – "FUCK, LEAVE. LEAVE NOW. GO!"

"What the hell? Cook, why are you looking at the wall?" – Zoro was confused as he saw a bottle with some liquid stuff in it – "What the hell is this bottle?"

"Leave it, marimo. Just get the fuck off here." – He was so focused on panic that he didn't notice when Zoro got closer to him and was suddenly startled by the swordsman's hands in his shoulder. – " Shit! ARHGH! It burns! FUCKING HELL! LET GO OF ME MOSS-HEAD!"

"What the… It burns? Cook, what the fuck is happening here?"

"Zoro." – The swordsman widened his eyes. Sanji would never say his name in such a deep tone unless this was a serious situation. Zoro only got more curious and tried to look at the cook's face as the other kept trying to hide it. – "Fuck Zoro, don't. I'm asking you please. PLEASE. Leave me alone."

That confused Zoro even more. Was the cook actually stepping down and begging at him to leave? Damn, now he was dead curious. But he also knew how to respect their nakama so he decided he wasn't going to insist on this matter. For now.

"Fine cook. I'll leave. But I'm gonna force an answer out of you eventually, baka." – And with that, the swordsman set himself out of the bathroom.

"Zoro, wait!" – Sanji turned towards the door, now with his hair and a band-aid covering his eye.

"What now?"

"… ahm… would you mind… not tell this episode to anyone?" – '_Shit, if that swordsman tells anything about this, I'm screwed.'_ The last thing the cook wanted to was to have to leave the crew because of that stupid thing that was his eye.

"Will you tell me what this 'episode' was all about?" – Zoro smirked at the cook in an almost-victory stance but was soon turned off by the other's answer.

"I- I can't." – Sanji looked down at his shoes so he didn't have to look at Zoro in the eyes and reveal something he knew he couldn't. No matter how much he wanted to let his nakama know, he knew how much his and their lives and happiness were at stake.

".. Huh… Whatever" – Then he bolted out of Sanji's sight. '_Fuck'_, he thought. '_Why did he have to appear? Shit. Of all the people in this ship, it had to be him'. _It had to be Zoro the one who found him in his most vulnerable state.

Zoro had seen him weak, something he should never allow. No one could see his biggest weakness. He could never let them, or else they would all get in trouble. '_It's best if I pretend this didn't happen…_ _Maybe he'll forget about it…' _ He set his mind and got back to the treatment he was applying to his burning eye.

…

The swordsman was napping on the deck when one member of the Fun Trio decided to interrupt his 'meditation' time:

"Zorooooooooooo…!" – The swordsman ignored the pled of his captain, knowing Luffy would ask him to play with him or something similar, so he kept pretending to be asleep. – "ZOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" – And it was getting bothersome. – "Open your eyes, Captain's orders!"

Zoro opened his right eye to look at the massive grin planted on the rubber-man's face – "What do you want now Luffy?" – Here comes the playing request…

"Go and tell Sanji to make me something to eat!" – Well, that was… unexpected?

"Tell him yourself Luffy, I'm not the cook!"

"I know you're not, baka! But Sanji is in the bathroom and he doesn't want to get out and told me to come bug you so I'm asking you to ask him to make me food!" – Unexpected, yes. Well, not so much. '_Why is the curlicue still in the bathroom? Ah, I'm definitely going to find this out. Shit-cook thinks he can hide things, well, better think again! Plus it's another thing I can tease him about…I only have to find him out…'_ - "Zoroooooo, don't ignore me! Captain's orders!" – Luffy yelled, pulling his first mate out of his own thoughts.

"Luffy, wait for Sanji to leave the bathroom, I have to go… somewhere. Ja-ne!" – The swordsman got up, failing to see Luffy pouting at him.

"You're no fun, Zoro, no fun!" – The captain yelled – "Chopper, Usopp, let's play!"

"Yosh!" – They both answered and followed Luffy to do God knows what.

'_Now, who could possibly help me with this quest?'_ Zoro was up in the Crow's nest trying to figure out how to solve this mystery. This was a first, though. He was never really driven by curiousness but being able to tease the cook about something was really appealing at that time. '_I can't obviously ask Luffy, Brook or Franky for obvious reasons. Usopp is out of question, Sanji wouldn't tell him jack. Nami, perhaps? No, the witch would charge me the answer and she would probably have nothing interesting to say. Chopper, maybe… He's a kid though. And Sanji runs from him like the plague. Maybe… Robin. Ugh, that weird woman.'_ But he knew she was his only chance and so he decided to go look for her and try to make her help him some way.

Like she was reading his thoughts, as soon as he stepped in the deck jumping from the Crow's Nest, she appeared in front of him:

"Oi, Robin." – The raven-haired woman smiled at him politely, perhaps guessing what Zoro wanted from her.

"Swordsman-san. Is there anything you need from me?" - The swordsman rubbed the back of his neck to try and hide his awkwardness at the fact the he wasn't really a talkative person, since everything was either black or white for him.

"Well, not really." – He blurted out – "Well, yeah… there is…" – He hesitated - "But we can't… talk here. Do you mind if we go somewhere else?" – Robin kept her polite yet weird and intriguing smile as she motioned for him to follow her.

"I don't see what you could possibly have to tell me that can't be heard by others but if that's your request, we shall go to the girls dorms. No one enters there except me and Nami and she is currently at her navigation room." – Zoro nodded and followed the archeologist to the girls' dormitory.


	4. Chapter III

**A/N: Chapter III of this fic is here! Well, I'm sorry it took a while to post it but heh, busy person. Have not that much to say, thanks for your support and thanks for reviewing and fav-ing this story. Ok now, I'm not stalling you guys anymore. Go on, go on! eheh :p**

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**Chapter III**

The navigator was currently on her mapping room, creating one more of her beautiful maps, one more step towards her dream, when she was marvelously interrupted by their annoying rubber of a captain. – "Oi, Nami." – Luffy called.

Visibly annoyed, Nami turned around to face her captain. - "What now, Luffy?" - Luffy cocked his head to the side, sign that he was in his famous 'deep' thinking mixed with a massive hint of curiosity.

"What is Zoro doing in your room with Robin?" – _'Zoro… Robin… Together… Room. EHH?'_ Nami was slightly shocked at the new information.

"Zoro… Huh? R-Robin?"

"Yeah, I saw him leave to the girls' room with Robin." - Said the captain, while looking a bit surer of himself but with his brain already placed on a good meat meal.

"Oh, I see… Well, I can't possibly know since I've been here all afternoon BUT if you manage to, let's say, pay me just the right amount; I may work on finding out…" – _'Oh yeah, blackmail material plus money coming in…'_ was what the orange haired woman was already thinking. She was a bit – okay, a lot - curious at what their two less talkative crew mates could possibly be doing in that room and was already planning a nice scheme to find things out when Luffy managed to disappoint her.

"Nah, leave it." _'Damn!' _Well, Luffy or no Luffy, money or no money, the blackmail material and her sudden curiosity were enough to make her ready for her little investigation.

"Oi, Nami."

"What now?"

Luffy grinned widely at her - "I'm hungreeeyyyy ~!" - This earned the rubber-man a powerful punch in the head and a very much annoyed navigator who commanded him to leave her room and piss the hell out of someone else. Afterwards, she left the room as well, walking towards the girls' dorms.

…

Sanji was already in the kitchen, preparing the crew's lunch as his duty so much requested. Tons of sea king meat, since their swordsman and captain managed to capture a few, were placed in the counter to get tendered along with a few variety of vegetables and some rice. It was nothing too fancy, since their cook wasn't really in the mood for something incredibly awesome. '_Well shit…' _he thought _'If it wasn't for this eye-crap, I'd be in a better mood for a perfect meal. Meat it is…'_

The kitchen door was opened quietly and small soft steps were heard._ 'Chopper… What does he want now?' _

"Ne, Sanji?" – Said cook cleaned his hands and looked back at his crewmate too see him fidgeting and kind of shy – "Is everything okay with you…?"

_'Oh great. Does it... Shit…'_ Sanji crouched to be on the same eye level as his crewmate. – "Huh Chopper? Oh yes, yeah, I'm okay. Any reason you ask?"

"N-No, not really. You just don't seem so good." – Sanji could see how Chopper was honestly worried about him and it pained him to lie to their doctor like this but there was nothing else he could do so he carried his lie on.

"I'm fine, I promise. But thanks for worrying! You're a good doctor." – He said, hoping the praise would make the other forget the matter.

"Shut up, bastard!" – The little doctor giggled and blushed – "I don't like your stupid praises! Bakayaro!" - As predicted, he left the kitchen wiggling happily.

_'Awesome. Now I can't even hide it… First was that shitty seaweed, now Chopper. Shit, gotta worry about lunch... Yeah, that.'_ – So he carried on with his preparations. Tending meat, chopping vegetables, measuring the right amount of rice… '_Oh but what it is this nice smell of perfume? Could it be… Oh…'_

Nami was yet to enter the kitchen, the cries of love from their cook could already be heard – "NAMI-SWAAAAAAAAAN~`!" – Sighing, she drew her palm across her face, remembering herself of the blackmailing profits so that she could forget the pain of putting up with the cook swooning and fawning over her, as she prepared for her first mission regarding the 'Robin+Zoro situation'. _'Here we go once more…'_

Sanji was twirling around with heart-shaped eyes around her as soon as she set foot on his kitchen – "Sanji-kun! Are you busy?"

"Ah, such beauty brightening my day… I'm never busy for you, my swan~!" – He pulled a chair for her to sit as he got on his knees and grabbed her hand to plant a small kiss on the back. – "What can your knight possibly do to amuse you, my princess?"

"Sanji-kun, I've come to know that Robin and Zoro are on the girls' dormitory together. Alone. Have you noticed anything different about their… relationship?" – Sanji froze. _'WHAT THE HELL? But, but… Robin-chwan… With that neanderthal! Unnerving! Oh hell no, not this eye again!' _He shifted on his feet as he grew uncomfortable with the itch in his eye.

"Ah… N-Not really, no, Nami-swan. I-I'm sure it's nothing. Dearest Robin-chwan would never want anything to do with that shitty- oh, forgive me, with that brute of a swordsman."

"You do have a point, Sanji-kun… Oh well, since you don't know, I guess I have to take the matter into my own hands! Thanks for your help!"

"Hai, Nami-swaaaan~!" – Then she left Sanji in his duty service and went towards the girls' dorms. Well, it was not a good thing to do but in order to take care of their crewmates needs, or so she said trying to find an excuse for her doing, she had to listen to their conversation.

…

Meanwhile, Zoro and Robin were in the girls' dorms talking. Or at least, trying…

"So, you are asking me if I know anything about eyes or about Cook-san? Ken-san, I'm sorry but I can't understand your point. You'll have to be clearer on the subject." – _'Ugh…'_ He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Ok Robin, this is it: I went to the bathroom…

"Do I really need to know those details Ken-san?

"Sh-Shut up woman! Th-That's not what I meant!" – Zoro stuttered but quickly got a hold of himself and sighed – "Well, as I was saying, I went to the bathroom but when I got there, I found that ero-cook. And as soon as he saw me he turned his head and yelled me to get out of there.

"Well, obviously…" – Robin rolled her eyes but kept her smile towards her crewmate

"No wait, it's not that. He had a weird bottle with a weird liquid and I think he was by the mirror…?" – The swordsman remembered – "Yeah. Then he turned to face the wall and didn't let me get close to him and kept hiding his face…" – He wondered – "SO! I think he didn't want me to see his left eye because it's the only thing we never see of his face but I don't know why. I'm asking you if you know of something he can have to hide like that…

"Ken-san, I'm not sure I'm the right person to answer your question. Have you tried asking Cook-san himself?" – Zoro chuckled and rolled his eyes to stare at the archeologist as if she was the dumbest person on earth. _'Seriously…'_

"Yeah right, Robin. As if!"

"Try asking Doctor-san. It could just be an old injure." – The swordsman started to get up from his chair since he realized this conversation wasn't getting him nowhere farther than he already got.

"No, I don't think it is that… Really woman, forget it, I'm leaving…" – Regretting to have asked for help anyway, he walked to the exit. As he got to the doorknob to open the door, a hand sprouted from it and stopped him from doing so, which made him turn back to the raven-haired woman.

Robin smiled to him once more and got up from her chair as well to grab a book she had by her bed-side table as she spoke – "Well, it's your choice. But if you're that concerned, I suggest you ask cook-san or doctor-san for an opinion." – Then she opened the book to carry on her readings where she probably left off.

Zoro looked at her as if she grew three heads and as he slowly realized what he had heard, his eyes widened and he spurted – "NO! I'm not worried." – 'I'm not, right? It's… curiosity. Why would I be worried about that crap-cook? Che, whatever!' – "It's… huh…. Bye Robin."

…

Nami was getting closer to the bedroom door when she heard the door open. _'Damn it!' _She mentally cursed herself for not being able to arrive sooner and find out just what Zoro and Robin were up to. _'Humpf, I'll find out anyway… I may get Robin to tell me what this was about.'_

"Hi Zoro!" – Nami waved at the swordsman and grinned at him way-too-widely as he noticed and stood still to look at her suspiciously.

"Whatever it is that you're planning, I don't want to know nor be a part of it!" – He frowned at her and crossed his arms, waiting for whatever it was that she wanted to say.

"Oh, it's nothing Zoro!" – She kept grinning – "Carry on, carry on…" – With that said, she opened the door to the girls' dormitories and got in without looking back at her crewmate.

Zoro was still eying the door suspiciously but since the navigator decided that she didn't want any favor (forced favor under the threat of increasing his ever-growing debt, yeah, but who cares…) from him or something like that, he uncrossed his arms and carried on towards the deck.

…

Robin sat straight in her chair reading her book when she found herself thinking about what the swordsman said before. Truth enough, their cook never showed his left eye but it could just be that he liked the hair-cut. Still, after the information that she got from Zoro, it had to be something other than just a fashion desire. _'Well, it's time for a little research then…'_ Robin thought. As if reading her thoughts, Nami appeared at the room door and quickly approached the raven-haired woman.

"Robin! You absolutely have to tell me!" – Robin closed the book she was reading, putting it down on her lap, and knowingly turned to their navigator.

"What should I tell you navigator-san?"

Nami narrowed her eyes as to say that she was not up for the other's dumb act and started shoving questions to the other woman - "I'm talking about Zoro! What happened? You guys went at … it? Is he any good?"

For a light second, Robin looked shocked but quickly replaced her shock with amusement with Nami's thoughts - "Goodness gracious, no! Well, swordsman-san is, as a matter of fact, a good-looking man but I'm not looking for that kind of affection right now." – She closed the book and laded it on the bed-side table.

Nami made a confused face as to say _'IM SORRY, WHAT'_ but curiosity grew over her and she grinned - "So what then?" – She put her elbows on her knees and leaned her chin down on her hands – "Robin, stop beating around the bush and tell me what Zoro was doing here!"

"It seems to me that swordsman-san is a person who worries about our comrades and naturally, cook-san is not an exception." – Nami's eyes changed to a confused sight and Robin noticed it, readying herself to tell her girl friend the whole story.

"I'm even more confused now." – Robin took it as her cue to start talking.

"I'll tell you then."

…

Sanji was still in his kitchen but the lunch was almost ready. Nevertheless, the captain could always smell the scent of prepared meat and was already throwing himself at the cook. He was getting more annoying by the time, clinging at Sanji's leg like the world was going to end, begging for meat because he was 'staaaarving' and 'so hunghreyyyy'.

A vein popped on Sanji's forehead as he, for the thousandth time, kicked Luffy out of his kitchen. - "Luffy, bugger off!" – He said while the captain flew towards the deck and landed on a very annoyed sleeping form of a swordsman. – "Wait for the lunch call! Ugh!"

"Oi cook!" – Zoro got up from his current napping place and glared at Sanji. – "What the fuck was that for?"

The cook smirked at the sleepy face of his crewmate - "Tch. You sleep too much anyway lazy seaweed." – At what the swordsman decided it was better to beat the cook senseless for his boldness so he drew his swords out.

"Looking for a fight, ero-cook?" – Zoro smirked as well, adopting a fighting stance and waiting for the other's predictable answer.

"Bring it on, shitty-marimo!" – And so their dance began. Zoro's swords were clashing with Sanji's shoes as a rehearsed show - threatening to do more damage than they would ever do to each other - just blowing off steam. Sanji stopped the fight for he remembered lunch and glared at Zoro for a second before getting back to his kitchen.

With a smirk stamped on his face as he sheathed his swords back on their saya, Zoro tried to bait the cook - "Che, you're a pussy shit-cook." – He waited for an insult from the other man but none came and he frowned, visibly annoyed from being ignored.

A few moments after, Sanji erupted from the kitchen with his cries of love – "Nami-swaaaaaaan, Robin-chwaaaaaaan, food is readyyy~!" - He turned to his other crewmates with a boring look – "Idiots, lunch time."

They all entered in the kitchen to grab lunch quickly, fearing the wrath of their captain's mouth ready to devour every sign of food while the cook shouted his usual 'ladies first!'. They kept eating as normal as they could when speaking of their crew but Zoro did not refrain from stealing glances at his crewmate.

Sanji noticed Zoro's interest but pretended he didn't. His eye was starting to itch again and he thought it was better not to dwell too much on his crewmate's attitude. _'Stupid marimo and his ugly mug… ugh… what's he looking at anyway? Pft…'_

He didn't see anything that would give away his suspicions about Sanji's eye or anything so he kind of shrugged it off for the moment. Wouldn't be any good to have his crewmates look at him suspiciously for his continuously interest on the cook. He then looked up to laugh at the attempts his captain had at stealing food from his crewmates as the others just kept hugging their food like no end, but failed to notice the look his two female cremates were giving him, knowingly.

Nami learned everything from Robin and didn't fail to notice how the swordsman kept looking at Sanji from time to time during lunch and realized her friend didn't too. They would definitely have to know what was happening with the blonde cook that would worry their swordsman so much._ 'It's cute that he's worried, nonetheless…'_ Nami thought as she conjured plans in her head that she would eventually share with the raven-haired woman.

The lunch was finally over and Sanji refrained from asking - more like forcing - the swordsman to help him with the dishes. Somehow, he wasn't exactly at ease with him as he used to be.

"Cook, don't you need help with the dishes?" – _'And what's with him and offering to help? Argh! Just leave already…'_ Sanji shifted uncomfortably from the sink and pondered not answering the swordsman but he knew that would do him no good and decided against it.

Zoro approached the sink ready to 'help' his crewmate with the dishes but stopped as he heard the other's answer - "No, marimo. Go bore someone else." – He frowned but insisted, as it would give him a little more time to evaluate the cook's actions to support his suspicions.

"Are you sure?" – He asked again. Sanji felt uneasy but ignored his feeling as he told the swordsman to leave again.

"Didn't I tell you to leave? What's with you now? Fuck off." – With this, the swordsman decided it would be better not to keep pushing the matter - he wasn't really interested in helping anyway - and got back to the kitchen door with a frown still glued on his face.

"Che. Whatever." – And then he left.

_'Fuck Sanji, what the hell… Are you stupid? Why are you letting whatever it is that is happening get to you that much? What IS happening, anyway? Fuck, stupid eye. This has to stop. I have to find out what's wrong and get it right quickly.'_ As he thought it, he decided on going to Robin's library – well, it wasn't really her library but no one else used it as much as the raven-haired woman anyway – to see if he could find anything regarding his situation. He knew what he had but he didn't knew anything else than what he learned from experience, so he thought it didn't hurt to do a little research on the huge amount of books they had.

Soon after his brief chain of thoughts and consequent decision, Sanji finished cleaning the plates and the rest of the kitchen and stood to leave. Already by the door, he gave one last glance at the galley to make sure everything was in its right place. It made him smile in accomplishment as his turned to leave and lock it. Yeah, lock it. Wouldn't do anyone any good if Luffy found out he was absent from his sanctuary and had left the door unlocked.

He took in the sight of each one of his crewmates to find Usopp on a corner with Franky working on some 'Great-Biggest-Bestest-Captain-Usopp-And-Franky-Suppah-Newest-Invention' or whatsoever and Chopper near them, watching with glimmer in his eyes at their work. His beautiful ladies were resting near Nami-san's mikan trees under a parasol, chatting and giggling. The sight made the cook sigh as his eyes turned heart-shape. Brook was near them just sitting down, drinking his tea, refraining from asking either of them to see their panties, – _'Which is the best option he has if he considers his physical well-being precious… Che, weird skeleton!' _– as he kept gazing to the ocean as if reminiscing on something.

He turned to leave to the library but suddenly remembered there were two people missing on the deck. _'Where is Luffy, anyway? And that baka marimo…'_ He looked around and found Zoro working out with his halters near the Lion-head, talking about something with Luffy while said captain just laughed. Absentmindedly he let a smile grow on his lips.

…

At the same time, the pirate girls were chatting – more likely conspiring – about their latest gossip - "So what do you think, Robin? You think Sanji-kun is suffering from an eye disease or something else?" – Nami whispered, trying not to raise suspicions over their talk subject. Robin was smiling at her as she answered:

"I really don't know, navigator-san, but it could be nothing as well." – She wondered – "You know how cook-san is always worried about his image, it could be just something he doesn't want us to see? A scar?" – She knew she was probably wrong but there was nothing odd with offering all the possibilities.

Nami looked at her as if she really didn't really believe it and noticing that Robin didn't believe it as well - "Perhaps. I'm still curious though. I'm going to find out what's wrong with him. He can't really deny us anything, can he?" – The navigator said, batting her eyelashes shamelessly feigning innocence.

The raven-haired woman giggled at the expression her girl friend was wearing and mused right away politely - "I suppose he opts for not to." – She offered as she grabbed her drink and sipped a bit of it.

"It's settled then." – Nami decided – "When the time is right, one of us will approach him and ask him bluntly what's wrong. Can I count on you Robin?"

Robin knew she didn't really have a choice and being honest with herself, she was glad her crewmate had the same idea of investigating the problem as she herself had when Zoro came talking to her - "I have no choice in the matter, really, do I?" – She said, looking little bit resigned and much more interested.

"Not really" – Nami said, already planning on how she would approach Sanji about the subject which was obviously private but made her curiosity grow.

The archeologist shifted in her seat and looked at Nami with resolute eyes - "Then yes, you can rely on me to help you." – She then lifted her hand to stop Nami to say anything before she finished her line of thoughts – "But I believe we should observe first and ask later, don't you think?"

Nami frowned but resigned to the will of her friend and started throwing ideas on how they should start their stakeout without the cook noticing anything.

…

Sanji was already in the library and looking at the books to see if any of them could offer him some information. There were a few opened on a table and others balanced on his right arm as he gathered them and kept looking for more._ 'This sucks. Man this stupid library has everything and I can't find one single thing about what I want! SHITTY BOOKS!'_

"Shit, fuck this. I hate this stupid eye and this stupid shitty burning. I need to know what the fuck this is!" – He growled, angry very noticeable on his tone, as he kept looking at books and picking some up to lower them on the pile he had on his arms.

After a few while of picking books, insulting them and glaring at the ones already opened as if the books were laughing at his face, the cook finally found one that stirred his curiosity: "World's Rarest Curses" the book title read. He put the other books in his arm on a table and opened the new one he had found.

"This ought to be somehow related with this… crap." – He turned a few pages, ignoring introductions and looking out only for something related with eyes. – "Sure, because if this is not a curse, I don't really know what the fuck can it be!" – He kept on turning pages anxiously when he stumbled across a read that caught his attention:

_"There are some genetic curses that only manifest themselves if in the presence of some strong emotions."_ – He read – _"They manifest according to a soul's will in various form, being the most intriguing of them all the eye curses."_ – Sanji flinched as he read the segment. _'Intriguing? As if that's the best word for it…_' He forced himself to keep reading despite the dreading feeling of emptiness in his stomach. – _"The known eye curses until now are the following: Norowareta Me, Aku Me and Akarui Me."_ – He tried to read past that but the following pages were ripped, much like someone wanted to make the words just… disappear.

The blonde was trembling when he closed the book. He sighed, relieved for having a bit of ignorance still on him, despite his curiosity. Somehow, he was still afraid about finding out the depths of his… little problem. No matter what it would say after that one little paragraph, he didn't doubt one thing:_ 'Mine must be the evil one… After everything it made me do…'_ - "After all that I've done…"

He was so deep in his thoughts and so focused on his new discovery that he never heard the door open and the eyes of someone else on him.


	5. Chapter IV

A/N: First of all, I'm **really fucking sorry** about taking all this time to upload a new chapter. The truth is I started College in September and I have less than half the time to sit down and just think about this story. Too much exams, too much presentations, too much social life. In other news, Writer's Block kicked in and I've been stuck at half of Chapter V for months. I hope that starting at the end of this month, say Jan 25th, until Feb 21st I'll have a bit more time to work on this because I'm definitely not giving up on it. I'm growing into this story and I plan on **NOT** leaving it unfinished.

Well then. In other notes, I really wanna thank** triple baka**,** alguien22792**,** L. Valiant **and** Fii aka Ficchan **for the nice reviews.

Last, but not least, I hope you enjoy this little chapter I bring you and hope you forgive me if I spend another century until I upload Chapter V.

Love, M. Nakamura.

* * *

**Chapter IV**

Crossing the corridors, Nami walked towards the way she saw Sanji disappear to but stopped at the sight of the contemplative look of her crewmate. – "Ha, N-Nami…" – He looked up at her and stopped, wiping the concern out of his cute face.

She smiled down at him surprised but decided not to ask anything concerning the worry her nakama showed at the moment - "Chopper! Have you seen Sanji-kun? I'm looking for him…"

"He's… ahm…" – The little doctor hesitated - "He's… huh…" - He kept fidgeting, looking up at Nami's face and down at the floor, and suddenly blurted out - "I d-don't know, r-really." – And with that, he left running towards the deck, leaving a confused navigator behind.

She kept walking forward to the library and once she got there, she saw the mess that was made of that place. Tons of books were open on top of a table, some on the ground near it and the blonde cook sitting on the floor, hugging his knees while hiding his face down. The navigator narrowed her eyes and noticed a book on Sanji's lap. Slowly, she tried to approach the cook and heard him mumbling something.

"… evil… I'm… done… harm…" – She could only figure out some words, the sounds being muffled by Sanji's arm. Nami crouched in front of her crewmate.

"Eh… Sanji-kun?" – She started, uncertainty clear on her voice, as he suddenly stopped his mumble – "Are you alright?" – He lifted his head to look at her but not before trying to conjure a smile – even if it was a faint one.

"Ah… Nami-san. Such a beautiful sight for my eyes! Is there anything your prince can do to please you?" – Her frowned features started to soften when he reacted to her words and managed to smile at her, though she knew his smile wasn't the most vivid one.

Nami smiled at the cook too – "No, I don't need anything right now. Are you okay?" – She kept insisting, fishing for a clue, like she and Robin had agreed. Just fishing.

"Hai, I am my flower. Your presence blows all the unhappiness away." – He was trying, he really was, but he couldn't make himself act as if everything was just fine even if he tried hard enough – "What do you say to a nice drink?" – He started to get up and hurriedly close the book he had on his lap. Since the book was small enough, he kept it under his jacket.

Seeing the cook wasn't going to fess up anything, she decided to go along with his game of pretending – "Hai, a drink would taste really nice now!" – His smile brightened a bit more and she returned it as they both turned to leave to the kitchen.

They kept walking side by side in silence and Nami was trying to think of something to say – "You know you can always talk to me, right Sanji?" – She blurted out – "I mean, In spite of all the frilliness and how much I want to punch you sometimes… If you have anything you'd like to speak about… Seriously…" – She trailed off – "Well, just say so." – The orange haired woman finished.

Noticing she was talking seriously, he refrained from going over himself for her willingness and conjured a proper answer - "Hai Nami-san, thank you." – He didn't say anything else until they got to the kitchen. Nami started to walk towards the deck, saying she would wait for her drink outside while the cook walked to the fridge to take out the needed things to make his goddess a perfect drink.

_'So, rationally thinking: I know a bit more about it. It'll help. It'll help. Everything will be fine. And if it isn't going to be fine naturally, I'll fucking force it. Shitty eye…'_ And a decision was made. As much as his eye was being a pain in the ass, he always made it work just fine. He always lived with it. Knowing about it would only be a good thing. Maybe there was a solution. No point making a fuss about what had been done because that wasn't going to solve anything. Sanji was a man of action and solutions and not a man of tears and sorrows.

After preparing Nami a drink, the cook walked outside to the deck to find her. He didn't see her under the parasol so he went searching for her around the ship. Leaving Luffy – who was on the lion-head – and Chopper – who was next to him drying herbs – behind, Sanji took off to the other side of the ship.

…

"Are you listening to me Zoro?" – The navigator asked.

"I'm sorry, did you say anything?" – He lifted his head – "I think I ignored you." – And lowered it down again to carry on with his lifts.  
Nami got up from the couch on the crow's nest and punched Zoro, which made him lose balance and fall to the ground and end up with a bump in the head. – "Did you need to do that, you witch?" – He glared at her.

"You purposely ignored me. You don't do that. Now listen to me-"

"I don't want to." – Zoro got up and grabbed his halters and started working out again.

"I'll make you if I have to!" – Nami got up as well and stood in front of him – "Listen to me: Seeing as we're landing tomorrow morning, I'm ordering you to go help Sanji-kun bringing the bags from everything he'll buy to the ship." – He stopped and looked at her with pain clearly shown on his features.

"He always does that for himself!" – But he knew he was done for. As long as the she-devil came up with the debt issue, he knew he was going to give in to her wish.

"I'm going to stay on the ship so he'll need an extra pair of hands to carry what I'm going to ask him to buy. And it has to be you. Or else, I'm increasing your debt to me." – that said, she left him behind in stupor.

_'Witch damned woman she-devil…' _Now he had to go and help the cook tomorrow with stupid shopping. Every single time he went with the cook to carry his bags, he always had to put up with him being an asshole and a presumptuous son of a bitch tripping over himself fawning at every single girl that passed his field of vision._'Just ignore him Zoro, ignore him. He's a pain in the ass but you can handle it…'_

The ero-cook was a stupid stain in his existence. Zoro cursed him yet again, as he always did, as long as the fucking cook lived.

…

"Nami-swaaaaaan~, where can I find you my flower?~ I'm in possession of your sweet request, that I made with all my looove ~!" – The cook twirled around the ship, searching for Nami but without success. He heard her then, calling him from under the crow's nest.

"Sanji-kun? I'm sorry did you make my drink?" – Weird, he thought. He'd been there and didn't see her.

"I did, my flower~!" – And approached her with the cocktail cup in his hand, got on his knees and gave her the drink – "Is there anything else you knight can do for you, angel?~"

"No no, Sanji-kun. Thanks!" – Thus she left him behind and started walking towards Robin. He wondered what she could be doing up there at the crow's nest. Looking at the sun he figured he still had time to spend. He climbed the stairs and it downed on him that if Zoro wasn't on the deck, he was probably there, working out. The cook decided he was going to descend but something made him go up the last step – which he was going to regret moments later.

He looked through the window of the room and there he was: A portrait of strength. Sweat glowed out of his tanned, marvelous skin. Veins rippled out of his arms as he pushed his body up and down, doing his reps. _'How could have I fail to notice it before?'_ A droplet ran down on his spine, like a teapot drenched in tea, so to be kept alive. Like a bronzed statue of some museum. _'AND HOW COME I'M NOTICING IT AT ALL!'_ And _fuck_, he didn't even seem tired. As if he wasn't probably on his 2000th rep of the day. As if he was made for people to look at him and be jealous – or feel some other feelings the cook couldn't explain right now. Sanji wasn't a poet, so he have really no words for what he was experiencing, feeling. _'Even if I was…'_.

He had no way to describe how such picture of raw power, like Zoro was at the moment, made him just… _feel like that_. If Sanji had to admit – which he would never –, Zoro was fucking perfect. And there was no other expression to do him due justice. _'Damn.'  
_  
Suddenly, an unbearable pain crashed on his temples – "OH FUCKING HELL!" – He yelled. – "Fuck no, not again!" – He kneeled down and quickly threw his hands on his left eye. It was burning again, like it was on fire. Sanji could feel the life of it coursing. He could feel as his body tried to reject the painful curse floating right now on the left side of all his head. But there was nothing he could do about it. He started to trash around, failing to notice how close he was from the flight of stairs that lead to the deck. So, as predictable as it was, he tripped.

Zoro heard the scream. He got up and ran outside but only to arrive too late. When he realized what was happening, there was just one thought in his mind. _'Not again!'  
_  
The swordsman could only watch as the scene in front of him rolled before his eyes in slow-motion: Sanji tripping, stepping on the wrong place and finally falling down the stairs. _'No, no, NO!'  
_  
"NO, COOK-" – But it was too late. The cook fell and Zoro only had time to run after him to try and grab him. He failed, though. Again, he failed. Sanji was already on the ground, unmoving.

_'Fucking hell, not again. Please be alive. Be alive. Be alive. Be–'  
_  
"ZORO!" – He jolted. Only when he heard Nami's voice screaming at him, did he notice his brain had been instinctively blocked. – "What are you doing?"

The swordsman was still numbed – "Sanji… he… Where…" – The world seemed to slow down. He had thought Sanji had been lying dead for hours, as if it all hadn't been just mere seconds. Didn't even notice the others taking action. Only saw his crewmate, his nakama, on the ground, fucking lifeless.

"Chopper's on him already. He's on the infirmary. What the fuck is wrong with you?" - Nami inquired. As if on cue, Luffy neared her and placing a hand on her shoulder, silently asked her to step aside. She did, still a bit confused, as her captain told her to, and left Zoro and the rubber-man alone.

The green-haired man was finally regaining his senses. He shook as head, like trying to get rid of his numbness. He looked at his captain. – "Thanks, Luffy."

Luffy smiled behind his hat. – "Don't think of it, Zoro. He'll be okay."

Zoro allowed himself to release a small smile, of relief or something like it, he didn't really know. – "Yeah…" – And he took off towards the infirmary.


	6. Chapter V

**A/N:** Hey guys! Sorry about taking so long to update and make this a short chapter but I really wanted to end this where I did. I'll try to update this more often, now that I'm on semester break until Feb. 21st. I don't know how long will it will take until I upload the next chappie and I don't wanna make promises, else something happens and I end up failing them. So yeah, I'm gonna **try** and not take that much time until next upload but you never know.

I bet you wanna kill me for dragging this story so much but heh, I feel like it. Deal (:

**Thank you all** so much for your kind reviews. Feedback is always much appreciated. I hope you stay with me further on this journey.

Ok, without any further delays, here's Chapter V of _'I See You Through Your Eyes'_.

* * *

**Chapter V**

He really didn't know what was happening. In a minute, he was… what was he doing anyway? Oh. Right. Something about… Zoro? '_Fucking Marimo, always being the cause of my troubles.'_ Yeah. He was watching Zoro. And now he was not. And his body was so damn numb…

He thought he could hear someone. – "I'm going to give him something to make him sleep." – Oh, that was Chopper. Wait sleep? He didn't need to sleep. _'Chopper, I don't need to sleep. I'm okay. I need to get dinner ready. You hear me Chopper?'_ – "Robin, I need you to get out." _– 'Why aren't you listening to me, you shitty doctor?' _Sanji tried with all his might, but his voice wouldn't reach Chopper's ears. Which was stupid, since the shitty animal could always hear better than anyone. _'Oh, wait. Maybe I'm not talking…'_ He felt something sting on his arm and thought he could _hear_ sleep reaching him, calling to him. _'Good fucking riddance…'_ And he was out.

…

Luffy and Zoro were outside the infirmary, down on the ground aside the door, waiting on a verdict. Chopper had been in there for a while, they didn't really know how long. Zoro just knew it felt _too fucking long_! Hell, he needed to calm down. The cook was a strong person, there was no need for him to worry. SO WHY WAS HE?

Well, he was the first-mate; it was his _job _to worry…

"How's he? Chopper said anything already?" – Nami approached them. He didn't know why, but Zoro saw red. _'How the fuck does this manipulative sea-witch dare to sound concerned?'_

"Why the fuck do you care anyway?" – He snapped. Luffy looked at him as surprised as he could manage. Nami was outraged.

She glared at him and yelled – "Are you stupid Zoro? We're nakama! Of course I care!" – She threw her arms up in exasperation – "I swear, sometimes I wanna kill you…" – And she left fuming, cursing about a stupid swordsman who had no sense of people's feelings.

Luffy approached his first-mate – "Are you okay Zoro?" – And the swordsman felt bad for his outrage. – "Nami didn't deserve that…"

"I know, Luffy. I'll solve it later. I'm just tired." – He sighed and got up – "I need to… do something." – Luffy looked up – "I think I'm gonna go training."

At that moment, the door opened and the small doctor appeared outside. Luffy shot up as well. – "He's okay for now. He has a fracture on his right wrist and he's probably gonna be a lot sore tomorrow, it was a hard landing…" – Zoro let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding – "All I have to do is wait for when he wakes up, to see if he has any head trauma."

Chopper was visibly tired. Maybe a bit more than one should expect. More like he was… worried? Confused? He had been inside that room for hours with Sanji, so maybe it was that.. Luffy grinned with instant relief – "Yosh! Now, since he's okay, can he make me something to eat? I'm staaaarving~" – He finally complained, a sign that the captain was relieved as well. Zoro conjured a small smile on his face, never daring to think just why he had been worried to death.

They heard noise and saw Nami and Usopp coming towards them. The two crewmates relaxed as they saw how much less tense their captain and first-mate were. Obviously, Sanji was alright now. – "Any good news?" – The sharpshooter asked.

"Yeah, he's okay for now but he needs to rest." – Chopper smiled a bit, restrained.

The swordsman refrained from looking at Nami, he'd deal with her later. He didn't know what came over him to act like that anyway… Well, he did. He just didn't think he'd care that much about how Nami treated people or not. Especially Sanji.

"Good. We don't need one of our fighters injured now." – Nami said.

"Plus your cooking is not that good Nami, we need Sanji back really fast!" – Usopp completed, unaware of Nami's angry eyes.

"What did you just say?" – She fumed. – "You saying my cooking is not good?" – She snickered, in a way that made Usopp buckle his knees in fear.

"I-I didn't say anything! Chopper, I'm coming up with a can't-be-near-Nami-any-longer disease!" – The sharpshooter trembled.

Luffy soon looked wide-eyed at him – "Whoa, is that contagious?" – He yelled. And with Usopp running from Nami with Chopper after him screaming for a doctor in need to cure his disease and Luffy bouncing from left to right, Zoro was feeling a bit better.

"Worried, Kenshi-san?" – The swordsman jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was never going to get used to sprouting hands appearing on his back.

He turned back and saw Franky, Robin and Brook - "Oi woman. Next time warn a person, will you? I'm fine and I'm not worried." – He crossed his arms and looked at her challengingly. She smiled at him, like she was plotting. Again.

"So you say…" – She kept smiling.

Franky and Brook opened the door to the infirmary but saw Sanji sleeping – "Zoro-aniki when he's going to wake? I need his SUPAAAAH food! Yeah!" – Franky announced.

"Ask Chopper." – Zoro kept looking at Robin with distrust. She always made him feel slightly uncomfortable. – "Oi guys, I'm leaving." – The swordsman turned around quickly and walked away.

"Is everything okay with Zoro-san, Robin-san?" – Brook approached her, still holding his cup of tea. Robin stood watching Zoro's retreat and still with her back towards Brook, she answered him

" I suppose." – She heard Brook hum and the three of them parted ways.

…

The room was silent, that much he could guarantee. That it was dark, it was probably a given too but he couldn't be sure – his eyes were still closed. Slowly, but as fast as he could manage, Sanji started to open his eyes. He blinked a few times to adjust and realized there was a small ray of light coming through the window.

Ha. Not so dark after all.

He tried to get up but his body hurt everywhere. He laid back down and let out a desperate sigh. How the fuck was he supposed to make dinner if he couldn't even get out of bed? Wait… Dinner. That was the last thought he remembered from last _night_. _It was night time, right…?_ So why was light shining through the window?

As soon as he decided that he had to get up no matter what, the door opened wide the small doctor appeared Sanji's eyes.

"Oh, you're awake Sanji!" – The doctor beamed and soon entered doctor-mode – "Are you okay? How do you feel? How much do you remember from last night?" – He quickly threw his non-stoppin flow of questions.

"Wow, wow, wait a minute. I'm fine. What do you mean last night? What the fuck, what time is it?" – Sanji started to feel pissed. What the fuck was he doing, sleeping 'till morning and leaving the shitty crew without food! He tried to get up when he realized how much he failed his duty but his back was having none of it. A bone-crushing pain crawled up his back and landed his head – _oh, the hurt!_ – making him throw himself back on the bed.

Chopper kept fussing over him, while Sanji just kept getting more and more irked about it, about not being able to get up, about not being able to be cooking. All the while, his temperature was being checked, the little reindeer also making sure there were no hemorrhages showing. When the little doctor finished his quest on confirming the obvious existence of vital signs, the cook was all ready to commit serious _reindicide_. - "Oi… Tanuki." – Chopper stopped and looked at him. – "What the hell? What the fuck happened to me?".

Chopper seemed oblivious at his rage fit. Something was very wrong with the way the little reindeer suddenly stopped and looked at him in a funny way.

"Huh?" – He finally woke up from his inner-reverie and sat on a chair, which was definitely made for people a bit bigger than Chopper – "Oh. Well, you fell from the stairs last night and you've been asleep this whole time. Are you sure you're okay? I mean your back…"

That he already knew, he wanted more answers but for the looks little Chopper was giving him, he was getting none of it. – "Chopper, I'm fine, I'm sure it…"

"Sanji."

The cook was beyond curious now. Chopper wasn't usually this serious. Something was bothering the kid too much. Maybe his injuries were worse than they seemed and he could never fight again? _Oh, god, no!_ Maybe… Oh shit.

"I…" – The doctor shifted in his seat, obviously disturbed and visibly trying to decide whether to open his mouth or not – "Can I ask you a question?"

The cook laid back down and fixed his uncovered eye on the ceiling – "Yeah… Sure." – _Might as well expect the worst._ And he looked to the side at his nakama. That's when he saw how fearful and concerned and full of pity were they eyes of his little crewmate. It was obvious now. – "Ask away, Chopper." – He resigned.

"… What is that? Sanji… What's wrong with your eye?"


	7. Chapter VI

**A/N: **Ok I'm gonna stop apologising. Seriously. You guys already know I'm really sorry I can't overcome my writer's block and college work and everything in my life right now. I know they keep being small but I don't want to keep you guys waiting. So here's another one. Yes, a small one but heh. I'm gonna try and extend the chapters a bit more or else this'll end up extra long and I don't want that either.

Thank you all for being supportive of this story. I know how irking it is having to wait for chapters for so long. And yes, I'm sorry.

Love you all for the reviews and the story alerts and favs. Thank you, for real.

* * *

**Chapter VI**

"What do you want?"

"Nami, I…Ugh. I'm not really good at this. But… I'm sorry?" – Zoro frowned. He wasn't really good at apologizing. He knew he needed to do it, though. The girl didn't really deserve his outburst, which only really happened because he was too frustrated. Yeah.

"It's fine, Zoro. I'll accept your apology in money too!"

"You…" – The orange-haired woman laughed and winked at him, which made the swordsman glare at her. Of course she'd charge him an apology. He really didn't know anyone as greedy as Nami. – "Witch."

"Tsc, Zoro. Do you want me to raise your debt?" – She smiled mischievously – "Apology accepted. I understand you were worried about Sanji-kun."

His constant glare was quickly replaced with wide eyes. – "Where did that come from woman? I wasn't worried!"

"Of course you weren't." – Nami gave him a _weird_ smile, one he couldn't really place or figure out what it meant but he sure knew it wasn't a good thing.

Zoro kept still in his place – at the galley, that's where they were – while saw his orange-haired nakama leave him. He was still trying to figure out what just happened with Nami when he heard Usopp's loud scream. Instantly, he changed to mode alert and ran to the deck, only to realize the dumb sharpshooter was just mad at Luffy for breaking something he made. As usual.

Yeah. That was good though wasn't it? Things back to usual.

'_It's really a while since something bad happens… It's probably not gonna last, anyway… '_

…

Another place on the Grand Line, a big building could be seen by a small fisherman on the coast line. He found himself looking at the window, fixated. He would later swear to his wife and kids he saw a silhouette there. He'd swear its face was made of velvet and its smile had two souls. He'd swear he saw red-_ish_ hair attached to that same silhouette.

His wife would tell him to shut up, to stop dreaming, and scaring the children: _the building is long gone abandoned and the kids don't need his father telling them those ghost stories to feed their fantasies._

"Are you sure he woke it?" – A woman asked some other entity.

'_Yes… I'm sure. Trust me as the person you once loved.'_ – Same woman sighed.

"Well, I need to be sure. I can't be waiting for him with all this and then he didn't wake it." – She turned away from the window sill and started to walk towards the door, on her way to leave the room. – "You know, I still love you…"

And as if avoiding such subject, said entity refrained from commenting on her last note – _'Are you leaving me?'_

"I wish I could!" – Said woman sighed. Seemed like all she could do lately was sigh. – "I'm sorry. I'll be back later. Promise." – She held on to the door while she looked back at the face of the one who once was the love of her life. She tried to smile, even if she felt too tired for it. – "I'm so curious about the one who made him wake it. Aren't you curious?"

'_I am. Think she's good?'_

The woman's smile disappeared. Sadly, there wasn't a thing that could distract her from… it. She just hoped things would go well this time. – "Yeah. I hope she is."

That said, she left the room and walked towards the stairs leading to the backside garden of that ginormous building. She needed to clear her mind. As she walked down the stairs, a nauseous feeling was downing on her. Things wouldn't go as smoothly as she has hoped. Of that, she was sure.

When the woman opened the door to the garden, a tear left her eyes and rolled down her face. She didn't really think the sun was to blame for this one.

…

The cook was still lying down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Sure the little reindeer was waiting on an answer but he wasn't so keen on giving him one. His little nakama wasn't ready enough to handle it. He'd be _disgusted_ at how it really was…

"I don't know myself Chopper." – So he decided to tell. It'd be better to give him a half truth. A half-truth was enough. If the little guy could handle a half truth, maybe someone, someday, would be able to handle it whole. So he hoped. –"I know that it's genetic, because my mom had something similar. And I know it gives me too many headaches." – He looked at the little doctor and so far, nothing changed. He still had the same worried curious eyes looking perplexingly at him. – "And I have to treat it when… Uh… From time to time. Else it'll grow infected."

Chopper shifted a little in his chair and Sanji could see he was fidgeting but trying not to show. Goddammit, he should've just kept quiet about it… A sudden change in the kid's eyes.

"You ever tried to search about it?" – The cook conjured a surprised face. He wasn't expecting that… - "I mean… I'm sure you're curious about it?"

"I… yes." – The little doctor's eyes seemed to be popping out of his head as he looked wide-eyed at his nakama.

"So? What is it?" – He asked. And sure as hell the cook wasn't expecting this conversation to take this course. This was going too well. Almost so well it made him never really let his guard down.

"Well I don't know Chopper. All the searches I've done ended up in nothing." – A disappointed frown could be read on Chopper's face.

"If you want to… I can… I can help! I can make sure your eye stays clear from infection with good medication and… and I can help you search for answers and…"

"Wow, calm down!" – Maybe the cook had underestimated his nakama. Maybe they'd all be more understanding than he'd thought. But while he was someone who sometimes liked to take risks, when it came to things he was kind of afraid of, he really was more calculating than it'd be expected. – "Chopper, fine. I kind of… need your help with the medication anyway…" – He mumbled, as he turned his head away, back to looking at the ceiling. – "But let it go, ok? I'll solve this later… It's nothing you should worry your clever head with, okay?"

The reindeer giggled as he threw his little hooves up, holding onto his pink hat – "I don't need compliments, bastard! That does NOT make me happy!" – And after a full set of giggling and wiggling, Chopper calmed down – "I'll… okay. Help with the medication. No help with the searching." – He nodded, determined. – "But you better come to me, or else I'll kill you! Your eye spent way too much time without the proper medication!"

And Sanji believed him! Chopper could be a cute little thing as much as he could be a threatening one, when his patients didn't respect their healing process. – "Chopper you have to promise me you don't tell this to anyone. Especially Luffy and Zoro."

The little doctor hesitated and the cook closed his eyes, waiting for his nakama decision. – "Okay, Sanji. I won't tell this to anyone, as long as it keeps this way."

Sanji said nothing. He relaxed, smiled and, as Chopper ended their dialogue by stating he was going up for a bit and the cook shouldn't _even think about leaving the infirmary without his consent!_, he could only think about how he should figure this shit out before it causes him any more trouble.

God save him from losing his crew because of the shitty eye. Even if he had to take it off.

…

Things really normal on the ship. While they were all considerably less worried about Sanji's condition, since Chopper already did the favor of giving them the good news, Robin still had one foot on doubtful grounds. – "Robin!"

"Oh, captain-san. Something you want?" – Luffy bounced up and down around her.

"Nah. Wanna play?" – He asked hopefully.

Robin smiled at him but soon turned her sight to the horizon. – "I'm not really on the mood, captain-san. Maybe another time?" – She asked.

Luffy looked really dejected – "Owww! No fun, Robin!" – She smiled at him again, apologetically. He turned to leave her side, but before doing so, Robin caught him looking back, his eyes hidden by his hat. A worried frown on his face.

'_He really isn't a dumb head, this captain.' _– she then thought. She wasn't the only one feeling it then. Something else, something bigger. Something dangerous approaching.

Her next instinct, as she thought of the future, was to turn eyes in the direction of one sleepy swordsman. He did seem content, as the breeze ruffled his hair. Said swordsman sighed and drew a small smile. Somehow, Robin thought she caught him right in the middle of a really important moment in his journey.

The raven-haired woman looked once more to the horizon and decided to turn around, walking towards everyone.

As a lost feather of some seagull floated around Zoro's face, the swordsman felt himself slowly being pulled from his peaceful slumber. He was definitely dreaming about something. A place where he already had what he wanted. He was already the best swordsman in the whole world. He had stopped at a small island – which he somehow didn't know exactly where it was – during his trip and was currently eating a really well cooked meal. He was complete.

He shook his head as if disregarding what he had dreamt. _Whatever_, he thought. He got up from his resting place on deck and started to walk towards his training room. But first, a quick step to the bathroom.

The swordsman kept walking. Walking. Walking. Goddamit! It irked him to no end how they kept changing the doors! No matter how many he opened, the bathroom just wouldn't appear.

He was getting pissed up. Fucking bathroom, changing its place without warning a person! He opened one last door – Ok, this is the one! – already fuming!

"What the fuck, shitty swordsman!" – A voice screamed from inside the door. Which wasn't the bathroom again. Zoro was going to leave the place when something stopped him. – "The fuck did you have to do that?"

"Oi. Shitty swordsman. I'm talking to you. Or have you already lost your brain cells that you can't even listen to what I'm saying?" – Sanji was getting pissed by the second. Was the stupid swordsbeast making fun of him? Argh! – "Oi, are you ignoring me?"

Zoro kept still in one place. _Sanji's alive._ Oh thank god. – "Yes, I'm ignoring you, stupid love-cook." – He rescued himself from humiliation. – "The fuck are you doing there? You're so weak you can't stand up?" – He smirked as he changed to a more confident pose, leaning against the doorsill, legs and arms crossed.

_'Oh that's it!'_ Sanji thought. The cook made move to stand up but his body didn't really want to_. 'Goddamit, I'm really weak.'_ - "Chopper doesn't let me leave." – He dismissed.

Zoro only smirked even more – "Riiight. Well, shit-cook, have fun being weak." – The green-haired man finished, as he turned around and closed the door.

'_Shit. Shit. I'm not fucking weak. Stupid fucking swordsman thinks he's better than anyone! Argh, at least falling could've stopped this pain.'_

"You're okay Sanji?" – Chopper chimed in during Sanji's thinking.

Sanji was startled for a second but quickly recovered – "Yeah I am Chopper." – He tried to get up once again. – "Hey, shitty doctor, when am I gonna be able to stand up?"

The small reindeer was busy preparing a set of painkillers, but looked back. As he did, he conjured a smile – "Pretty soon. You'll be able to get up tomorrow. I'm giving you one last set of painkillers tonight and then you can get up."

"Ugh. Okay." – Sanji turned towards the wall – "I think I'm gonna sleep then." – He said. A day confined to this room was starting to take a toll on him. Not being able to cook was depressing even more. Sanji decided that sleeping was probably the best idea. At least he wasn't moody. He refrained from mentioning the constant pain in his temple since Zoro's 'visit'. He'd deal with it.

As he closed his eyes and heard Chopper leave the room, he sighed.


	8. Author's Note!

Guys, I'm really sorry about the time this is taking to be completed but the truth is that during July, I was still dealing with tons of hard exams and didn't really had it in me to write this. After that, my stupid laptop decided to stop working and I had to send it to the factory so they could fix it and ended up losing every goddamned document.

So, here's the deal. Give me a few more days. A new chapter is coming around.

Once again, I'm really sorry about all this delay.

Just letting you know why, so you know I haven't given up on this story.

Love, **~mnakamura**


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